The Miracle Crop
Did you know that there is a plant strong enough to replace plastic, oil, and building materials; and the same plant has been cultivated for the past 12,000 years, yet it has been classified as a schedule one drug? Since it has been harvested, hemp has become one of the most popular crops ever grown. Our founding fathers including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, all grew hemp on their estates. In the early 20th Century, hemp was outlawed in the United States; even though it had been one of the major crops in the U.S. and was super beneficial. Hemp can be used for building a stronger concrete than we have right now; it is one the most nutritious foods we can harvest today and can yield more than 400 times the amount of paper which we use from cutting down trees on the same land. Hemp can also improve the environment if cotton was substituted for hemp; plus it creates a stronger and more durable fiber. Today hemp is not illegal but we would be better off if it was completely legal and we could start to use hemp as it was suppose to be used. To get a better understanding, let take a look at the impact hemp has had on the world. “For the past twelve thousand years, industrial hemp has been harvested and used throughout almost every nation in the world” (8). “From its beginning, hemp has been used throughout the world for its fiber, seed, and psychoactive effect” (9). “Ancient Chinese techniques of hemp sowing, cultivation, and processing developed rapidly and became fairly advanced” (10). China would not have been the same if hemp hadn’t been discovered. The psychoactive affects were also discovered in China, and had been used ever since.
Later, its popularity had spread all over the world. Hemp could also be found in your local pharmacy. “In the 17th Century, Hemp made its way to America where it was also thought of as